


It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect

by Emono



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Courtship, Drama & Romance, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Mild Smut, Minor Injuries, Ref!Mitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-11 17:07:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12939819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: Matt and Auston really should be concentrating on hockey but the cute referee they've been courting together is really distracting. He's so adorable, how can they resist? And Mitch is absolutely besotted with them.





	1. Chapter 1

Auston waited until the other refs had skated away from Mitch for their warm-up huddle before he made his move. He knew he should’ve been doing passes or stretches with the rest of his team before their game against the Ducks, but he knew he’d only have a limited time to talk privately with Mitch until after the game. The ref looked so damn cute adjusting his chin strap and Auston tried to keep the lovestruck smile off his face as he skated up.

 

He had a reputation to uphold, even if Mitch did go all pink when he saw him. They were behind the glass from the fans and away from both benches. The cameras were always running, especially when it came to an Alpha player talking to an Omega ref, but it was as much privacy as they’d get.

 

“Hey Mitch,” Auston greeted as casually as he could manage. “You ready for the game?”

 

“I hope it’s going to be a clean one,” Mitch teased. His smile was all teeth and sparkle and Auston’s heart did a flip-flop. “Not planning to plow over the lineys again tonight, are you?”

 

“Nothing I would tell you about,” Auston shot back. His lips twitched up at the corner but he tried to keep his expression neutral. They didn’t need anyone talking. He bumped his gloved hand against Mitch’s arm. “Are you all...padded up?”

 

Mitch jumped a little and looked quickly down at his arm. That beautiful flush crept down his neck and into the dark collar of his ref shirt. “U-Uh, yeah. Yeah I am.”

 

Auston felt a burst of triumph. “So you got my gift then?”

 

“Yes,” Mitch murmured. He scrubbed his knuckles across his cheek to try and wipe off the embarrassment. “Thank you for them, by the way. They’re really great.”

 

“You get knocked around so often on the ice…” Auston trailed off. It wasn’t just that. Mitch hardly ever thought of himself and the Omega often got knocked around on the ice. Most of the players were broad shouldered and thick in the way Mitch wasn’t. Unfortunately, it was Mitch’s job to get in between them. Auston hated to see the man batted into boards and onto the ice with padding that was probably months or years past expiration. Getting Mitch a brand new set of pads seemed like the best kind of gift.

 

Neither wanted to say out loud what the gift meant.

 

Auston cleared his throat. “It was my idea and I bought them but Marty picked them out.”

 

Mitch squirmed deliciously at that. The poor thing wore his emotions on his sleeves and all over his face. “Really?” 

 

“He knows your body type better than I do,” Auston said with a hint of a rumble. He could see goosebumps break out across Mitch’s throat. He wanted so bad to lean in and press a chaste kiss to the ruddy skin but he would never without permission. 

 

Their situation was precarious at the moment. Auston and Matt had hit it off immediately after Matt joined the team. They kept things on the low because they were both Alpha teammates and the Leafs didn’t need any bigoted assholes ruining their good mojo this season (or ever). It had somehow turned out they’d been pining after the same Omega referee for almost a year. After a couple long talks about it, they had decided to hesitantly pursue something with Mitch. It was agonizingly slow but Mitch was more than worth it.  

 

They had to tread carefully. They worked together but one wrong move could cause a bad blowup all around. They all wanted to keep their jobs and it was heavily frowned upon to date refs. 

 

So, separately, they tried to court Mitch. These new pads were the first gift they had given him together and he could admit he was thrilled to see Mitch wearing them. 

 

“I-I don’t know about that,” Mitch stuttered, skates cutting nervous little lines in the ice. Auston knew that Matt and Austin had only made out a few times but it was farther than Auston had got. He’d been a little behind on his courtship with the middle of the season going on and he was hoping to make up for it.

 

“Maybe we can change that tonight?” Auston husked. He dared to skate closer and tilted his head in like an offer, a faint rumble shaking his chest. Mitch’s lashes fluttered and he cocked his head aside just enough to show he was receptive. It made his gut clench. “Let me take you out to dinner after the game?”

 

Mitch nodded wordlessly. He had to swallow twice before he could get his voice back. “I’d like that a lot. Text me when you’re done with everything?”

 

“Of course.” Auston inhaled deeply and his stomach flipped when he got a whiff of Mitch’s natural sweet scent. Like honey drizzled over ripe strawberries. His mouth watered and it was a struggle to put some distance between them. Everyone, from the players to the announcers, had to wear triple strength scent neutralizing spray during games but it seemed like Mitch’s was wearing off. He cleared his throat and forced a polite smile. “I’d reapply your scent spray before the game, okay?”

 

Mitch grabbed the front of his shirt and sniffed it. Everyone was a little immune to their own smell but even he could catch traces of himself trickling past the spray and deodorant. He went beet red almost immediately. “Shit. Uh, thanks, I’ll see you after. Good luck tonight.”

 

“Don’t go easy on us just because we’re your favorite team,” Auston teased, trying to keep his head clear.  
  
  


“Never,” Mitch promised. “And the pads are amazing. You guys didn’t have to.”

 

“We wanted to,” he assured him.

 

“Thank Marty for me.” He skated backwards, reluctant to look away from the handsome player, but eventually turned away. He was so embarrassed! Gushing and throwing his scent around like a teenager. He did the same thing around Matt and it was so humiliating. It was one thing letting a guy know he was interested but being unable to control his hormones around them was another. He didn’t know what a hot power couple like Matt and Auston saw in him but he hoped they didn’t think he was childish.

 

While Mitch beat himself up, Auston skated over to where Matt where stretching out on the ice. He slid to a knee behind his boyfriend and leaned in so close their helmets clacked.

 

“Hello, handsome,” Matt rumbled, flashing fang with a wide grin. “Save it for after the game.”

 

“I can smell Mitch.”

 

Matt paused at that. “Yeah?”   
  


  
  
“His neutralizer isn’t very strong. I don’t know if some asshole gave it to him knowing it wasn’t up to par or what,” Auston grit out. “Keep half an eye on him on the ice, okay?”

 

Matt’s jaw ticked beneath his skin as he swept a glare over the cluster of refs across the rink. “I always do.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitch gets hurt and the boys don't take it well.

It wasn’t often all three of them could sneak away. It was the night before the game against the Oilers. Matt and Auston had ducked out after lunch to get in a car and head to a hotel clear across town. They didn’t want any chance of being spotted. They got let in the back way and retreated to the safe haven of the suite that Matt had shelled out for.

  
The suite Mitch was waiting for them in. 

 

They took complete advantage of the time together. They laid around and shot the shit, conversations delving deep now and then as they let lips and hands wander. Noses brushed over throats and soft inner wrists, scents shared and mingling as the sun started to set. When they got hungry they ordered room service and the Alphas made sure to get a ridiculous amount of decadent desserts for Mitch to choose from. They loved to spoil him and they both preened as Mitch moaned around every forkful. 

 

They let themselves indulge in other ways. Shirts got tossed carelessly to the floor and pants were thumbed open, tugged out of the way as lips parted for kisses just as decadent as the desserts. Auston whispered something about taking things slow when Mitch wiggled down between his thighs but the other two just laughed at him and told him to enjoy himself. 

 

It came in waves and they took their sweet time taking each other apart. Auston and Matt spread the Omega out with a pillow stuffed under his hips to get at his cute hole. They took turns licking open the pink furl and ground against the bed listening to Mitch moan shamelessly into the sheets. Matt figured out how perfectly Mitch’s legs hooked over his shoulders and Auston memorized the weight of the Omega’s cock on his tongue. 

 

And every time Mitch came he clawed at their shoulders with both their names on his lips. It felt like heaven. 

 

Auston was sprawled out in the mess of their makeshift nest, a little breathless and more satisfied than he’d felt in a long time. His muscles were sore in a warm way that he’d be able to shake off before the game the next night. For once, hockey wasn’t at the forefront of his mind. Instead it was full of Mitch’s honey sweetness and Matt’s own dry soil scent. Together they reminded him of eating sweets on the back porch of his childhood home and it was doing funny things to his chest.

 

Matt was getting water and Mitch was using the bathroom. From all the noises he was making in there he was examining the new set of marks dotting his shoulders and chest and thighs. He appeared in the doorway with a shit eating grin looking entirely too pleased. 

 

“These are going to last,” Mitch pointed out, tapping a finger on one of the darker hickies on the flat of his chest. “You fucking animals.”   
  


Auston grunted, a little preoccupied with the way Mitch’s sweats were barely clinging to his hips. God, he was beautiful. 

 

“Jeeze, look at you,” Matt chuckled as he came up behind Mitch. He tossed the water bottles to Auston and he scrambled to sit up and catch them. Matt laid his palm on the back of Mitch’s head and tipped it forward. “How does this always happen?”

 

“What?” Mitch whined, knowing full well what he was talking about. 

 

Auston’s lips quirked up in a fond smile. 

 

“Look at this,” Matt tisked as he rubbed his fingertips over all the knots in Mitch’s fluffy hair. 

 

“I was on my back for a while,” Mitch grumbled even as he obediently tipped his head and let Matt comb his fingers through his hair. He had fine hair and it easily got tangled when he was thrashing on the sheets. Matt was good at working out the knots by now and he was always gentle. Mitch leaned into the Alpha as the man rumbled and wrapped his free hand around his waist. The skin to skin contact made his whole body hum and his eyes glazed over as Matt worked the tangles out. 

 

Auston watched the familiar grooming ritual with a growing smile. The pair were so cute together. 

 

“So pretty, Mitchy,” Matt murmured as he raked his fingers through the free strands. Mitch let out the sweetest chirp and Auston melted into the bed. In this small, domestic moment he could imagine something long term with them. With Matt loving on Mitch it was easy to see the ref as _their_ Omega - not just for now. 

 

Mitch crawled into bed with him and Auston tucked him into his side. Mitch cooed under his breath and buried his face against him, lanky body curling all around him. In grey sweats and covered in their marks, Mitch looked vulnerable and soft. Matt joined them and his big hands on Mitch’s back only cemented that feeling. 

 

They needed to protect their boy.

 

o0o

 

Mitch woke up in slow waves, each crest making his eyelashes flutter against his cheek. The curtains did a good job of keeping the room fairly dark but he could clearly see the outline of an Alpha sprawled beside him. He was cradled against a wide chest in the circle of a protective arm, calm breaths ruffling his hair. Mitch hummed in content and pushed back into him, getting a sleepy grumble and a brief squeeze. 

He could already feel himself falling back in a doze.

 

Mitch reached out blindly for Auston and found the swell of his arm. He wrapped his fingers around it and squeezed. His nose was filled with the Alphas’ scents. They both had warm, earthy scents - though Matt’s was more charged and Auston’s smothered everything around it. They were the before and after of a storm.

 

Auston made a tired noise and shifted. Mitch let go of his arm but the Alpha easily snatched up his hand. Without ever opening his eyes, Auston laced their fingers and lifted Mitch’s hand up to brush a lingering kiss over his knuckles. He let them rest on his chest with a small sigh and Mitch’s heart gave a little flutter. 

 

He drifted back off to sleep feeling more secure than he could ever remember. 

 

o0o

 

Auston wasn’t the kind of Alpha who thought their Omega needed protected. Matt for sure didn’t need any help asserting himself but Mitch was smaller. Yet he was faster and just as capable. He was an NHL ref, he knew how to handle himself on the ice. Maybe for the first few games he tracked him but that wore off as the season went on. He trusted Matt to keep an eye on Mitch in case the worse happened.

 

Except Auston didn’t think there was any kind of ‘worse’ that could happen. He didn’t expect it.

 

Why Ericsson was chasing so damn hard after the puck, Auston didn’t know. Ericsson and Willy were in a full race for it, poking at it, trying to out skate each other. Auston was too far back to dream of catching up but he was busting his ass to get close enough to get a chance at the puck. He could see others closing in. He even caught a glance of Matt as he passed their bench.

 

And there was Mitch at the forefront of it all, waiting to make a call, gaze always on high alert for a penalty or to validate a goal. And then he wasn’t there. It was was just Ericsson’s broad body from a surge at the wall, and the harsh call of ‘ _bitch!_ ’ Auston saw Mitch take a full body hit, swallowed up by Ericsson completely, and the wall shuddered before turning opaque. 

 

The whole pane of glass shattered and Mitch went through it. He smacked painfully off the metal board and then disappeared through the broken shower of glass. His skates were all that were visible before they fell as he collapsed behind the half wall. 

 

Auston heard Matt’s roar behind him. He picked up speed and tossed his stick, his helmet, shucking his gloves like he gearing for a fight. Ericsson skated backward, bracing himself, but Auston didn’t have time for that shit. His world narrowed down to _MitchMitchMitch_ that matched the fast pace of his heartbeat. Everyone that had been behind the wall had quickly vacated their seats and moved back but not far. Auston didn’t see their horrified expressions or their phones out recording, the murmurs and knowing stares as he jumped the half wall. He didn’t see Matt shedding gloves and going right for Ericsson with fangs out.

 

Auston only saw Mitch laying there unconscious in a pool of shattered glass. He knelt down but didn’t move him. He knew better than to jostle someone around who just took a full header through the boards. He feared for Mitch’s neck more than his head. Auston ran on pure instinct to protect his Omega. He braced his hands on the ground and covered Mitch protectively, leaning down to nuzzle at the man’s smooth cheek.

 

“Mitch?” Auston murmured. He didn’t notice the glass cutting into his hands as he hunched over the Omega, wanting nothing more than to gather him in his arms. Mitch stirred, lashes twitching before his nose scrunched up. He wasn’t out, just stunned. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Stay still for me.”

 

“Auston?” Mitch rasped, his hand coming up to press weakly at his sternum. He sounded like he’d had the air knocked out of him. “What…?” He wheezed, brow pinched up.

 

“Try to relax and get your breath back,” Auston ordered gently. “You’re okay. Medics are coming. I’m right here with you.”

 

Mitch whispered his name again and tried to open his eyes. He looked dazed, eyes dark, and it kicked up all kinds of possessive feelings. Auston rumbled and leaned down to nuzzle the Omega’s cheek as Matt got dragged off a beaten Ericsson with blood on his knuckles and smeared across his teeth. Auston didn’t care about anything else but soothing his Omega. That included the pictures and videos being shot of them.

 

Auston rose up long enough to bark for a medic and then dropped down to lay a chaste kiss on the Omega’s jaw. “You’re doing so good. Just another minute and they’ll look you over.”

 

“Am I okay?” Mitch asked, voice still hollow and thready. 

 

“Yeah, sweetheart, you’re okay.”

 

But he didn’t know for sure.

 

It was less than a minute before a team of paramedics came. They were careful as they surrounded Mitch. Auston fought off a growl and got out of their way with one last touch to Mitch’s hand. The Omega whined for him but quieted down as the paramedics removed his helmet and got him in a neckbrace. 

 

Auston snapped and pulled away from the coaches as they tried to put him back into the game. But Matt had already been pulled from the game with rumors of a suspension so he relented. Matt would be with Mitch and he’d have to stay and play. It wasn’t fair but he had an obligation.

 

o0o

 

Auston scored a goal but the buzzer rang a hollow victory. He bumped his gloves against his teammates but one in particular was missing. He felt Matt and Mitch’s absence like a weight between his shoulder blades that dragged him down. He had a single goal in mind and that was to find his boyfriends but the coaches had something else in mind. He was grateful when they herded him away from the press conference but he found himself shoved into an office with Babcock and several other important faces glaring down at him. He stood his ground and kept his chin up, flicking the water from his hair and not caring where it landed.

 

“What were you thinking?”

 

“Who is Marner to you?”

 

“Auston, you need to think about your future. You have no idea how many people recorded that.”

 

“We’re already getting a swarm of questions about it.”

 

“It’s bad enough you don’t bother to hide what you’re doing with Martin, but with an Omega _ref_?”

 

“This is too far, Auston.”

 

Auston’s snarl silenced the room. His arms shook, knuckles white around the arms of the chair they’d all but pushed him into. Their jaws all snapped shut and his fangs were itching to bite. “My relationship with Marner has nothing to do with any of you.”

 

“It looks bad, Auston,” Babcock insisted, jaw so tight he looked like he was going to pop a vein. “Do you know how many accusations we’re going to get of ref tampering and favoritism?”

 

“And you can play back every call Marner has made against our team,” Auston bit back. He stood and noted how they all took a step back, all except for Babcock. “Tell them I was protecting a friend. Tell them I was comforting my Omega. I don’t give a fuck what you tell them but I’m going to go see him right now.”

 

He started and Babcock made a move to follow him.

 

“Don’t.”

 

“Auston, think about this.”

 

“ _Don’t_ ,” Auston hissed. He hated posturing but this one was one thing he wasn’t going to back down on. It wasn’t until Babcock’s shoulders slumped did he bolt out of there. He called Matt as soon as he was alone and his partner picked up on the second ring. “Where is he?”

 

o0o

 

It was a quick in-and-out hospital visit. Mitch was back in the hotel room before one AM. He had a litter of bruises but no internal bleeding, so signs of concussion, and a checklist of good health from his heart to his kidneys and everything in between. Matt had told Auston all this and promised their boy was fine except for a goose egg forming on the back of his head. His padding and helmet had done their job he’d just been stunned with the breath knocked out of him.

 

So when Auston stepped into the hotel room he only had one thing to say. “You got your ass kicked out of the next two games, Martin. Good job.”

  
“Your line’s better and you know it. What am I going to change being out?” Matt self-chirped. He pulled Auston into a firm hug and patted his back. “Did they give you shit?”

 

“Yeah,” Auston sighed. He let himself lean into his boyfriend for a few moments. He’d always found an endless source of strength in Matt and he drew from that now. Alpha paired relationships had always been looked down on and there’s had been no exception but he loved Matt’s solid nature. His scent, his calm, the way he centered Auston in a way no Omega ever had. He needed Matt just as much as he’d come to need Mitch.

 

“Auston?”

 

Auston rubbed his face into Matt’s neck with the faintest rumble before pulling away. On Matt he could smell their third but just a few steps toward the bed and he was engulfed in it. Mitch had changed in comfy sweats and a tank. He looked so soft in the makeshift nest they had all slept in the night before. Mitch seemed a little pale around the edges and he had a couple cuts too shallow for butterfly bandages but otherwise seemed unharmed. Still, he seemed shaken and it had all kinds of protective instincts welling to the surface.

 

Mitch playfully reached out for him and Auston all but dove into the bed to get to him. He gently pulled Mitch half into his lap and hugged him as tight as he dared without pressing on all the light bruising he surely had. Mitch curled around him and buried his face into his neck with a quiet purr. 

 

“Are you okay?” Auston whispered into his shoulder. He wanted to bury his face in Mitch’s hair and take greedy gulps of his scent but he didn’t want to manhandle the Omega when he knew everything was so tender. He had to keep reminding himself that Mitch wasn’t a hockey player and getting boarded through the glass was no small thing.

 

“I’ll be okay,” Mitch promised. He shivered and tucked himself closer around Auston and the Alpha pulled the blankets up to cover him up. “Sorry. Matt said it’s an adrenaline dump. I’m kind of shaky.”

 

“It’s barely been three hours and you were loopy for most of it,” Matt pointed out. He plopped down beside them and rubbed the Omega’s back. “You’re just crashing. You sleep off that goose egg and you’ll be good as new.”

 

Mitch mumbled something and Auston rubbed circles along the dip of his back until the Omega pulled back enough to to be heard. “I wish you guys wouldn’t have done that.”

 

Matt sighed like he’d heard it before but Auston frowned. “What? I stayed with you until the paramedics came.”

 

“There’s videos all over Youtube of us,” Mitch admitted lowly. “They’re saying all sorts of shit about us and favoritism. Every call I’ve ever made is going to get questioned. There’s people demanding I get fired tonight.”

 

Auston cast a glare at Matt. “You let him have his phone back?”

 

Matt shrugged. “He’s grown, Matts.”

 

Mitch’s glare backed it up and Auston bit back a growl. “ _Fine_. But-” He softened his tone and brushed his knuckles over Mitch’s cheek. “You shouldn’t be worrying about all this right after you got hurt. You took a bad fall, Mitchy. You’re not feeling it right now but you’re going to be hurting bad for a couple days.”

 

“And Matt’s out for at least one game for misconduct and I might not have a job and who knows what they’re going to put you through,” Mitch shot back. His eyes glistened and Auston pressed a kiss across his worried mouth in hopes to soothe even the smallest bit. There were a few stubborn seconds until Mitch leaned into it and it was a small victory.

 

“Matt and I are going to handle everything,” Auston promised. “If being an Alpha and number one draft pick mean anything, you’re not getting fired and Matt’s getting back on the ice before next week.”

 

Mitch bit the side of his lip and Auston thumbed the abused flesh until he let it go.

 

“Believe me. Please?” Auston pleaded quietly, searching Mitch’s eyes. He didn’t look quite convinced but he smiled a little and nodded. That would have to do for now. He gave him a chaste kiss and then cradled him close again. “It’s going to be okay. Matt and I aren’t going to let anything happen to you.”

 

“You can’t promise that,” Mitch muttered just under his ear.

 

Matt hugged him around the middle and dug his chin into his shoulder. “For you, Mitchy? We can do anything.”

 

Mitch blushed and hid his face. “You guys are idiots. Fighting and jumping the wall just because I got tossed. Everyone gets banged up.”

 

Matt grabbed the Omega by the hips and shifted him around until he was sandwiched between them. He smacked a firm, chastising kiss to the Omega’s neck and got a shiver. “Don’t fucking say that. You have no idea what it looked like.”

 

“I saw the footage-”

 

“You were gone,” Auston cut in. “You disappeared and then the glass broke. You have no idea what that’s like.”

 

“Yes I _fucking_ do!” Mitch barked. He shoved some space between them and glared between both Alphas. “Except I don’t flip out and beat the shit out of guys about it! I watch you both get boarded and high sticked every game and all I do is blow the whistle. I’ve _never_ complained about your jobs or done something to get you in trouble. And the _first_ time I get knocked around you act like a couple of knotheads!”

 

Both Alphas startled and shared a wide eyed stare. Mitch had never been so angry at them before and it cut right through them because he was _right_. Mitch watched them get hurt every week and he’d never done more than ask if they were okay or help ice their bruises. He’d kept a tight lip because he’d known that the NHL meant everything to them. And here they were unable to extend the same courtesy.

 

Mitch sighed in relief when the Alphas cuddled up on each side of him and started rumbling in apology. They rubbed their faces into his shirt and neck. Murmured apologies fell among the soft kisses and nuzzles and soon his anger smoothed out. He was too tired to stay mad at his Alphas and he sank into the cradle of their arms. 

 

They’d talk more about it later but for the moment he was sore and tired. It felt too good to just be held and loved on. For tonight he had them and he still had his job. 

 

“We’ll try to be better next time,” Matt whispered into his collarbone.

 

“Now _that_ I believe,” he teased.

 

That would have to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Reviews mean everything to me

**Author's Note:**

> I could be persuaded to do more. For some reason I really love Mitch as a ref. so I might do more for this one and my other Matt/Mitch ficlet. Lemme know if you like it or have some suggestions


End file.
